We can argue back and forth about how many people take statins with no problems and then how many have severe debilities. Here is what worries me, I have read so many posts here where a person was on a statin for many years before they had trouble. They are thrilled with the results, lower cholesterol, higher HDL and the doctor is patting you on the back then disaster stricks. Now why after all those years does it happen, does a statin build up in your system until it overwhelms it? I worry about my husband who is on Lipitor and seems to be okay, but for how long. I am concerned!!!! I was on a statin (lipitor) for over 3 years and switched to another and wham it hit me. I would be afraid to try another because I am just now beginning to feel good again and I don't want to tempt fate again. :confused:
gardeninggal...I know a few folks on statins that seem to do fine, but the majority of folks I know have bad side effects, some get them early on, some don't. All I know is hubby started with muscle weakness, pains and aches about a year after starting, but they kept telling him it was arthritis. At that time we knew of noone taking them so had no clue it could be the pills. I was put on them in Apr. of 2000 and by the 3rd month I was a wreck, mostly GI problems. I stopped taking them for 2 months, then they put me back on a new one..BAYCOL, oh joy, then the fun began. It was shortly after that we got a computer and I started hunting around for affects of statins and the rest is history. Like U, I will not go back on them and neither will hubby.
My girlfriend takes them and keeps complaining of PN, but she will not go off of them as she is afraid her dr. will yell. She is not diabetic, she had a cath done, no blockage, but her dr. wants her numbers below 200, so she has been on 80 mgs. of Lipitor for a couple of years. I just keep my mouth shut, as it is her decision to take them. Another friend emailed me that her husband was getting muscle pains and also VERY moody and forgetfull and asked if it could be the statins. I sent her a few sites to look up the side effects and she showed them to him and he tossed them. Luckily he was only on for about 7 months and is feeling alot better. Like U said, some folks do ok, other's do not, I haven't got the answer as to why, just know we here will not take them. Like they say, to his/her own choice. Hope your husband is one of the lucky ones..... :)
Slowly, but surely, I can see this whole issue surrounding statins turning into nothing less than a nightmare. Mark my words: These drugs will eventually become history, and will go down as one of the major medical blunders of all time! Just wait!
After I was put on Baycol and got sooooo sick, I told the dr. these things are toxic and I'll bet they will be gone before long. He told me..NO WAY, they were the best thing since sliced bread. Hmmmm, about 8 months after I tossed them, they were gone, but I see sliced bread is still around.. :)
Hi JJ
Can you tell me what kind of aches and pains you were talking about? Because I am on statins and I've been getting these strange chest pains.. almost like gas pains but not quite.. muscle pains I think..
Hi Zoeb....When I was on Lipitor, I got mostly stomach problems, like excess gas, diarrhea and lack of appetite. When on Baycol, it was arms, legs and lower back pains, with horrid fatique. I was only on statins for about 6 months, and got disgusted and tossed em.
Hubby was only on Lipitor, and he had the muscle aches, arms and legs, and balls of his feet and alot of fatique. He was on it for 7 yrs. and now has PN of the legs and feet which is spreading to his hands. Only way I can describe it is he has numbness, plus pins and needles and throbing. At present he has lil feeling in his feet, as he can step on something and not even know it, that is why he must have shoes or slippers on at all times, cause if he steps on anything sharp and cuts himself, he will never know till he sees blood.
Don't know what U are on, but if the pains still bother you, ask your dr. if U can go off the meds. to see if it stops. Statins act very differently on folks, so what might bother me, won't bother you and vice versa. Many folks take them with lil discomfort and other's suffer like crazy, so it is a trial and error thing with each of us.
Best of luck, and hope things go well for you..... :wave:
I haven't taken Vytorin - - not yet. I'm hoping to gain more information and discuss it as a possibility with my doctor on my next visit.
However, I must add here that when I was suffering multiple side effects of Pravachol, there were many mornings when I could not feel my left toes at all (and my left foot only partially) upon awakening and it tingled and felt 'asleep' for hours after putting weight on it.The first time I mentioned this to my doctor, he said, "hmmmm....got a little arthritis developing, eh?"
Now, six months after discontinuing Pravachol, this no longer happens, but there are still times that I get that tingling sensation in my left foot and toes.
I felt terrific when I began taking Pravachol and my LDL dropped dramatically. I suffered NO symptoms from Pravachol for over a year and a half - which is why my doctor did not suspect the drug was the culprit when my symptoms first began.
I also mysteriously developed idiopathic intermittent bundle branch block - left side - during the same time that the muscles throughout my body were under Pravachol attack and I am left with that condition, even though most of my other symptoms have dissipated. Coincidence? I think not. The heart is also a muscle! I have no family history of heart problems of any kind and all EKG's for the prior ten years were fine.
I'm convinced the drug companies are not telling all. It's simply another industry with a bottom line - no different than a plastics plant or an automobile factory. And we're no different than automobiles - a bunch of cars have to crash before they go public with the stats and do a recall. The one difference is that with us, there can be no recall.
If you're calling me a cynic, you're right! I've earned the right to the title. For those of you who are taking the statins with no ill effects and reduced cholesterol levels, that is wonderful. Multitudes, however, have suffered ill effects and the awareness level needs to be raised.
Pravachol took a serious toll on my body. Before taking cholesterol meds for an elevated LDL, I was an active and optimistic female; but after nearly three years on Pravachol, I was reduced to severe pain 7/24, lost bladder control, and a multitude of other symptoms...I became a physical and emotional cripple. I lost eighteen months of my life, so to speak.
This website, compiled of actual experiences, is an excellent tool to keep us all informed. I am so grateful to everyone here for taking the time to share their thoughts and experiences.
If U had such nasty side effects from Pravachol, I don't think the Vytorin is going to be much better. It is a Statin mixed with Zetia, so U just might get the same nasty affect U did on the other statin. As U said, there are some folks who can take these drugs with lil or no side effects, but there are many of us who just can't handle them. I hear ya about losing 18 months of your life, I was a disaster case for at least 9 after 3 months of Lipitor and 3 of Baycol, then it took another 6 months for the pains and aches to really be almost gone. My biggest problem was GI things, then it led into the aches and pains.
As I have told my last 2 dr.....Don't even think about trying me on another statin, I have had enough. One dr. basically told me if I didn't take them, he wouldn't treat me, so I said FINE, see ya.
Good luck getting the numbers under control with diet and exercise, it isn't easy, been there for 3 yrs. myself, but I'm still trying. Like my new dr. said, my numbers aren't too bad, but sure could be lower, so if they come down fine, if not, oh well, I'll take my chances.
I am a retired registered nurse. My doctor put me on lipitor about 5 years ago. After taking it for about 6 months, I began to feel 100 years old, developed a dry cough, and toes began to feel numb. (neuropathy). Had a friend, who had same doctor, who also put her on lipitor. She developed the same symptoms. Both of us decided to stop taking it (and by the way, you should not stop abruptly, do it slowly). Within two weeks, the fatigue and cough went away, but here it is 5 years later, and I still have numb toes. Went to a neurologist, who agreed that I had developed neuropathy, but said lipitor could not have caused it. My internal medicine doctor said the same thing. I did not agree with them. I KNOW that the lipitor caused my symptoms and that of my friend. I have talked to many people, who complain of symptoms after taking the statin drugs, such as lipitor, zocor, provochol, baycol (which has now been taken off the market as being dangerous), and in almost every case, none of their doctors would agree that the statins caused their problems. The pharmacology drug companies have brain washed the doctors, just as they did when they were pushing the hormone replacement drugs, years ago. THese ended up being dangerous. I am sure that in years to come, it will be decided that the statin drugs are also dangerous.
If U had such nasty side effects from Pravachol, I don't think the Vytorin is going to be much better. It is a Statin mixed with Zetia, so U just might get the same nasty affect U did on the other statin. As U said, there are some folks who can take these drugs with lil or no side effects, but there are many of us who just can't handle them. I hear ya about losing 18 months of your life, I was a disaster case for at least 9 after 3 months of Lipitor and 3 of Baycol, then it took another 6 months for the pains and aches to really be almost gone. My biggest problem was GI things, then it led into the aches and pains.
Best wishes.... :wave:
Thanks!
I'm repeating myself here from another thread, but feel it's noteworthy here as well.
Just to show you what meds can do to some people: (1) my statins gave me muscle pain, so my doctor put me on Cliniril, an arthritis med. (2) Then I developed severe reflux symptoms, and was put on Protonix. (3) Then I began experiencing severe fluid retention (and I mean SER-I-OUS fluid retention). (4) So, now I'm a total mess.
I was taken off the statins in early January '05, and (1) the pain finally subsided to where I felt I no longer needed the Cliniril (2) After discontinuing the Cliniril, the reflux started clearing up, so I felt I longer needed the Protonix, and (3) after another 30 days or so of not taking Protonix, the fluid retention slowly but miraculously went away. (I had been sleeping on 2 and 3 pillows at night because when I reclined, fluid moved from my feet and legs up into my body and I couldn't breathe. Lasix 20 mg twice a day had been of little help.) So, like falling dominoes, as I eliminated each med, I eliminated another problem.
My doctor actually said, "You're doing great since I stopped trying to kill you." That's what I like about him - his great sense of humor.
I am not inferring that my particular doctor falls into this category, because I don't believe that he does, BUT....I live in the Chattanooga area and can tell you that EVERYDAY in this town, the pharmaceutical companies are having lunch catered to many, many doctor's offices for their entire staffs. The caterers' vans are fighting for parking space outside the professional buildings every day around noon. The pharmaceutical companies aren't shelling out that kind of dough without getting a return on their money. It just wouldn't be 'good' business.
As one employee in one of those medical facilities so aptly put it, "I hardly ever have to pay for lunch. We get lunch brought in almost every day by one of the pharmaceutical companies."
I don't delude myself into thinking this happens only in my fair city. Is it any wonder that consumer prescription costs continue to soar?
Gee...how did I get off on this? Maybe it's just the late hour or maybe it's just the writer in me...
